World of Warcraft Preview, Part One
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One of the biggest issues for players in MMOs is items. Kill stealing, grabbing stuff from another's corpse, the division of treasure among a party -- all cause friction among players. Add to that players' desire for items to distinguish themselves from other players and it can get pretty ugly out there. Kaplan believes that World of Warcraft has solved that problem.
"I'm really proud of our loot system." Kaplan said. First, a good selection of items (but not necessarily the best) needed to be tied into the quest system. That's why the screen that offers a player a quest can have up to four given and six "choice" rewards to choose from. Any class has a reasonable chance of getting a good item from a quest, so players are doing as many quests as they can. It also means that players can judge whether or not the quest is worthwhile before they do it. According to Kaplan, the system was set up to avoid players farming quick respawns for experience or expensive items for money. The best items and the most experience are available to those who get involved in the story.
